“What the heck is this….”
The deputy of the Special Military Unit of the National Guard observed the scene with a tired expression.
It had only been a few seconds.
The platoon that had spread out to catch the one who had escaped to the third floor.
Their plan was to block the retreat route as they chased and corner them in a dead-end location from the opposite corridor.
But it was broken through almost immediately after they descended.
The bl**d stains on the floor and the gruesome corpses of their comrades. Even if he were a mage, it was absurd for him to break through their elite force alone.
The deputy felt the sensation of d*ath brush past his nape.
A war hero.
A young officer who suddenly appeared and shook up the entire Okhraine.
“Do not attempt to capture or subdue. Aim to k*ll!”
“Yes, Sir!”
To deal with such a monster, even capturing was a luxury.
“But where could he have gone? If he escaped to the first floor, we wouldn’t be able to track him.”
The soldier shook his head at the deputy’s words.
“No, he went upstairs. He must be targeting the Chief Inspector of the National Guard on the fourth floor.”
“Then we need to catch him right away!”
“First, we need to deploy calmly. We have no choice. Do not forget what Major Kamalov said.”
A cow’s sacrifice for the herd.
Major Kamalov, the commander of the Special Military Unit, always emphasized the value of sacrifice.
For the country, one should be willing to give up even their own life.
If someone else had said this, he would have dismissed it as nonsense.
But the weight of those words came from a man who was ready to sacrifice himself.
Even the deputy.
No, anyone under the command of the Special Military Unit would naturally be influenced by this.
If sacrifice was needed to stop a collapsing nation, whether it be himself, the commander of the Special Military Unit, or the Chief Inspector, they would willingly lay down their lives.
After all, wasn’t the Chief Inspector involved in the coup?
He must have a significant cause.
“If he kills the Chief Inspector, it will work in our favor.”
An office room with no walls.
There is no way out.
Since he voluntarily walks into unfavorable terrain, there is no reason to stop him.
Moreover, a platoon and a company are completely different.
Even if the personnel count dropped from forty to thirty-one including the commander, they were still more than enough to face Enok Revendale.
Even if he is a monster, he is still human.
He will d*e if shot and bleed too much.
An unbreakable rule.
Today, they would show the results of their grueling training.
“Let’s go.”
The deputy firmly gripped his rifle and prepared to move.
The personnel of the Special Military Unit moved swiftly and stealthily. They meticulously checked the stairs and allowed no margin for error.
They were not untrained in indoor combat.
In fact, being part of the Special Military Unit meant undergoing rigorous and thorough training.
Many indoor combat techniques established during the Second Quernen War, and the tactical theories compiled by tacticians were indeed effective.
‘Stop.’
At the sight of the foremost operative raising his fist at a right angle, the entire formation halted instantly.
The operatives moved like a single body, demonstrating the proficiency befitting a special unit.
The deputy, who had been keeping an eye on the rear, moved forward and quickly scanned the surroundings.
Fourth floor.
Not only the top floor but also with troops stationed at the opposite staircase on the third floor, Enok Revendale would likely be here unless he escaped through a window.
This was emphasized by the eerie silence of the hallway, as if the air itself was holding its breath.
‘Come to think of it, I heard gunshots just before we set out. Could he have already assassinated the Chief Inspector?’
No, that couldn’t be true.
As soon as the gunshots were heard, Enok Revendale appeared. It was impossible unless he had accomplices.
“…”
The deputy bit his lip hard. First, he needed to confirm if the Chief Inspector was safe.
He signaled the operatives to guard each room and led a few soldiers towards the Command Room.
Leaning against the walls on both sides, they took a breaching stance. Their movements mimicked the textbook for indoor combat.
They counted the seconds with their eyes locked and then kicked open the door and rushed inside.
With rifles aimed and ready to fire at anything that moved.
“Chief Inspector!!!”
The person welcoming them was the Chief Inspector, dead with bl**d flowing from his head, sitting in a chair.
And beside him,
was the Chief Inspector’s deputy, a lieutenant colonel, lying face down, also shot.
Though the scene was gruesome, the deputy realized it wasn’t the work of Enok Revendale. The lieutenant colonel’s hand held a pistol.
Moreover, the wound was on his temple. Only if he had put the g*n to his own head and pulled the trigger could such a mark appear.
He had committed s*icide.
Killed the Chief Inspector and himself.
“Why…?”
Just as he approached the body with a puzzled expression,
BOOM!!!
A tremendous explosion launched the deputy’s body, which collided with the wall.
CRACK! His neck twisted grotesquely, and his body fell limp to the ground.
Following was a series of heavy gunshots.
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!!!
“Gah!!”
“Aaaaah!!!”
Enok Revendale burst out from the door facing the Command Room and emptied the magazine of his machine g*n in an instant.
THUD!
Like the deputy, the operatives turned into corpses and lay scattered on the floor.
Even though they were specialized in indoor combat within the National Guard, they had only just begun to grasp the theory.
Real combat?
Had they ever experienced real combat?
Thus, to Enok Revendale, the Special Military Unit’s movements seemed ridiculous.
After all, the textbook was made based on Enok Revendale’s advice, and the Special Military Unit had made three critical mistakes in indoor combat.
First,
always clear rooms in order, regardless of time.
Second,
do not rush the deployment of forces.
Third,
never let your guard down even if you think you’ve cornered the enemy, always be prepared for sudden counterattacks.
Having violated all three essential rules, they were now at a disadvantage against Enok Revendale.
Numbers are often advantageous in indoor combat, but in chaotic situations like this, friendly fire incidents happen frequently.
On the other hand, the opponent—
considering everyone else as an enemy, he could freely sh**t or use magic without any restraint.
BANG! BANG!!
“Gahh!!!”
“Don’t sh**t! Don’t sh**t! It’s a friend!”
“What? What do you mean, a friend?”
“I don’t know either!”
BANG!!
“Gaaah, my leg!!”
“Who the hell is shooting!?”
“Don’t sh**t! Cease fire!”
The forces were scattered for door breaching, and thick smoke filled the fourth floor due to the recent explosion.
With visibility already hampered by smoke, the deputy’s commands to control the troops vanished, leaving the operatives in utter chaos.
In the midst of this, a streak of violet light emerged from the gray smoke.
ZAP!
Realizing it was the trace of a violet spell, the soldier’s carotid artery was severed instantly.
bl**d gushed like a fountain as his neck hit the floor.
“Save me! Gah!!”
From then on, it was a one-sided massacre.
“Hiiik!!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Panic-stricken soldiers, moving like ghosts through the smoke, kept pulling the trigger, but what fell at their feet was the corpse of their comrade they had turned into a sieve.
“Ah… Ahhhhhhh!!”
A soldier screamed until he collapsed, only to be silenced by the grim reaper appearing through the smoke.
CRACK! CRACK!
Continuous flickering purple lightning.
Sparks dancing around the dagger paralyzed the soldiers’ nerves, while red bl**d dripped from Enok Revendale’s arm and body.
“Deputy?! Hey! What’s happening?!”
The cries of fellow soldiers begging for help brought reinforcements from the third floor, but the moment they saw the bl**d-soaked Enok Revendale, they froze in place.
As the smoke cleared, revealing the field of bodies.
Twenty in total.
Single-handedly, he had cut down twenty men.
Under the overwhelming presence,
the operatives involuntarily lowered their weapons. It was a natural instinct.
“I… I surrender.”
“Phew.”
Enok Revendale sighed and threw the bloody dagger into a corner.
“You made the right decision.”
It was a sincere remark.
The loud gunfire continued to echo throughout the National Guard headquarters.
The guards outside the building, facing off against protesters, had no idea what was happening inside.
Nor did they want to know.
Most of the guards deployed at the scene were innocent soldiers.
Sacrifice for the country? A coup?
These concepts were foreign to low-ranking soldiers who never gave these matters a thought. Yet, overnight, the capital’s atmosphere had changed dramatically.
Their ordinary lives, which once revolved around nothing more than hoping for an early end to their shifts and sharing beers with colleagues, were abruptly transformed into something extraordinary by the massive conspiracy known as the coup.
A defiant officer?
Vanished without a trace.
Even soldiers were no different.
Only days ago, laughing and chatting with comrades, another comrade was dragged away.
In such pressure, how could anyone dare to defy?
Worse still, they had to bear the full brunt of the protesters’ fury.
Kidnapping of the co-ruler? The palace occupied?
What were they supposed to do?
They were just soldiers. Such plans were beyond their comprehension, and they had no intention of participating.
Caught between the superior’s pressure to cooperate with the coup and the citizens’ condemnation of the rebels, the ordinary soldiers found themselves squeezed between two opposing forces.
But the situation only worsened.
Earlier in the day, several colleagues were brutally beaten by citizens.
Given the violent escalation of the protests, they had no choice but to steel their hearts.
To avoid being killed by the enraged crowd, this was the only way.
The soldiers rationalized endlessly as they loaded their guns.
“All forces, combine ammunition.”
“Combine ammunition!”
“The initial shots will be blanks. If the threat continues—”
A few ordinary officers overseeing the scene closed their eyes and continued.
“…Fire.”
“Captain, shouldn’t we first check what’s happening inside since it’s in chaos?”
“If the front gate breaks through during that time, it will be uncontrollable. Can you take responsibility for that?”
“No.”
“It’s not because I want to say so! But… as soldiers, we must fulfill our duties!”
Protesters and the National Guard.
Just before a situation arose where they would spill each other’s bl**d—a scenario no one wanted—
“This is Major Erich Avakov, Commander of the Investigation Bureau of the National Guard! I am ordering all forces currently waiting at the National Guard headquarters to disarm! Also, I forbid any orders to fire upon civilians!!”
A deep, resonant voice echoed across the entire area.
